Must visit in Malaysia

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There is a lot to visit in Malaysia. You can easily backpack through this country or rent a car. More information about Malaysia you’ll find in the blog What to know about Malaysia.

Malaysia has many places to visit. Below there are some places you can visit during a backpacking trip. You should start from Kuala Lumpur and end at Cameron Highlands, from there you can go back to Kuala Lumpur.

The capital Kuala Lumpur

There is much to do in the capital of Malaysia. You can easily spend a few days here discovering in and around this city. The best thing you can do is walk around and discover the city yourself. There are some places you need to visit, that you can read in the blog Must visit in Kuala Lumpur.

Finding monkeys in Kuala Selangor

In Kuala Selangor you will find wild silver leaf monkeys at Bukit Melawati, which are sweet monkeys. You can buy a bag of vegetables from some locals to feed them.

Walk around the neighborhood, go to the sky mirror, eat seafood, and watch the fireflies at night. You can go by yourself and get there with a Grab car or you can book a tour on Klook.

Tip: wear long sleeves and long pants just so you don’t get scratches from the monkeys. They might be kind, but their nails are still sharp and they like climbing onto people. When you get a scratch you need to get to the hospital for a rabies shot

Going to the casinos in Genting Highlands

In Genting Highlands you feel like you’re in a theme park. It’s a hill resort where a lot of locals go to enjoy. Here you’ll also find the world’s largest hotel called the First World Hotel which has 7351 rooms available.

Enjoy the temples in Ipoh

Here you can enjoy some good Lung Xu Tangs, also called Dragon Beard Candy, made from sugar and maltose syrup.

You will find a lot of other good food. You should walk around in Ipoh near Concubine lane and discover the village. Besides that, you should drive around or take a grab car or bus to visit some cave temples: Perak Tong Cave Temple, Sam Poh Tong Temple, Ling Seng Tong Temple, Kek Lok Tong Cave Temple.

Find some street art in Penang

On the road from Ipoh to Penang there is a place where locals go and eat fresh seafood. A local place to eat is at Tambun Prawn Village restaurant. The food is good and fresh but not exceptional. It’s more for the feeling that you go there to eat between the locals and have a nice sunset.

There are a lot of beaches you can visit in Penang. The best hotels are also near the beaches. Some nice beaches are Batu Ferringhi Beach, Pulau Jerejak Beach, Adverlabs Beach, Monkey Beach, etc.

You should also visit the Kek lok si temple because it’s the biggest Buddhistic temple of Asia built on a hill with beautiful views.

Another place you need to visit is Georgetown. There is a lot of amazing street art in Georgetown. You need to bike around or rent a scooter to visit all the street art and wall painting in Georgetown. Next, you should also stop at the fisherman village that is nice to walk around.

Tip: eat Teochow Chendul at Penang Road famous Teochow Chendul stand.

Explore Kuching in Sarawak

From Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, it’s around two-hour flight. Kuching is a nice city to explore. Pass by the Masjid India Terapung and the Masjid Bandaraya and explore around.

Tip: you need to try rice wine which is a local drink.

Tip: a unique experience is sleeping in a culvert at the Culvert Hotel Resort Kuching.

Spot wild animals in Bako National Park

There are many wild animals you can spot during a trip to Bako National Park. You only get there with a boat so make sure to have a good guide. Some animals you can spot are crocodiles, bearded pigs, silver leaf monkeys, viper snakes, flying lemur, proboscis monkeys, lizards, snakes and much more.

There are many trails at this place. You can go alone or with a private tour or group tour. You can also stay overnight at this place.

See orangutans in a wildlife center

The orangutans roam free in the Semenggoh wildlife center which means it can happen that you don’t see them. Never feed or provoke orangutans, even though they may look tame and gentle, they are wild. In this nature reserve the orangutans are protected by the government.

They have a big park all to themselves and visitors can only go to a small part of the park. Two times a day they lay food and people can watch the orangutans for one hour. After an hour you must leave. It can happen that you won’t see them like for example if they already found plenty of food by themselves.

Do a diving course on Perhentian Islands

From Besut you can take a boat to Perhentian Islands. There are two islands Perhentian Kecil is more known for the backpackers and more budget traveler and the island Perhentian Besar is more know for the luxurious traveler. Both islands are perfect for relaxing and diving. You can read all about diving at Perhentian Besar in the blog Advanced Open Water course in Malaysia.

Tip: there are many pandan plants on Perhentian Kecil and they use this plant for everything like for making baskets, in food, etc.

Tip: every night there is a fire show at Long Beach on Perhentian Kecil.

Watch a tea plantation in Cameron Highlands

From Besut you can take the bus to Cameron Highlands which takes around 6 hours. In Cameron Highlands you should rent a scooter, car or book a tour. Mossy forests is a nice place to visit in this area, the big red strawberry farm, butterfly farm and the Boh Tea Plantation.

Tea is made from leaves of a tree and all the different kinds of tea come from the same tree. It says that tea is rich in antioxidants which is said to fight aging so drink up to stay young!

Fly to Singapore

From Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, you can easily fly to Singapore and discover this unique country. It’s only around 1 hour flying.